The joys of herxing

I’ve now coiled for Lyme three times since August 13, or about 2 weeks. My plan heading into fall is to coil every week. It’s already getting scary.

I don’t know how to make sure I’m detoxing fast enough. I’m sure I’m not doing enough. It’s hard to keep everything straight in my head, and honestly, I’m still trying to figure out a plan.

In the spring, my detox routine consisted of:

homeopathic formulas. I’ve stopped these as I’ve switched over to a one-time classical remedy which I may repeat in another month or two. The formulas conflict with the constitutional remedy, rendering it less effective, so I’ve stopped them for the near term.

BioMat. I just started that up again. Honestly, it’s easier to use when the weather is below 75 deg F. It’s also easier to use when I can tell I want to lie down and rest.

castor oil packs. I stopped them for the summer. They are on the agenda when the weather gets much cooler.

kombucha. I was purchasing it at the store (very expensive habit) and was usually able to get it. Now I’ve started brewing my own. I’ve got it up and running and tasting okay. Only, I’ll probably run out before the next batch is ready. This project only works when I’m well enough to monitor and process it when it’s ready. If I get too sick, I can go back to buying it, or buying some to supplement what I brew.

juiced greens. I love these. Right now, I’m still depending on my mother to do the juicing. As long as she isn’t overwhelmingly busy, it all works out. So I miss a day or two here and there, but all in all, the juicing seems to help.

drugs. In the spring I was using Colestid. I switched over to Welchol. The Welchol definitely works better.

yoga. My original plan was to move from one yoga class per week to two yoga classes per week. I haven’t been able to handle that yet. And after today’s class, in which I was mostly okay during class but have been a wreck since, I don’t think I’ll be increasing my class time. However, I’d like to get myself to start doing stretches every day or every other day.

acupuncture. I’ve been doing this irregularly, and I think I need to get into a weekly or bi-weekly schedule by mid-September. It always helps.

This summer, I added in more antioxidants (green tea based, caffeine free), which should help clean out my blood stream, and I’ll probably increase the dose soonish. I’m considering going for a colonic when things start to get really rough.

The reason I’m thinking about this today is that I can tell there are waves of Herx activities. It generally takes me about 2 or 3 weeks for a Lyme treatment Herx to get completely out of my system. Now I’ve got three going at the same time. I took a pre-emptive Welchol today because I felt the headache just starting to come on. I’ve got the spine pain from last week’s treatment and the fatigue from the week before. My intestines are getting more irritated. The visual floaters are back to a daily occurrence. My body is taking a beating…and this is only the beginning of the Lyme flare.

I’m nervous about the autumn.

Warrior Spirit

The Klingons like to say “Today is a good day to die!” as they head into battle. It’s a more extreme version of “Bring it on.” That’s the attitude I’m aiming for. I’m not there yet.

Before a battle, Klingons (and human warrior cultures) remind themselves why they are fighting by telling stories of the culture and their past heroics. That’s the phase I’m heading into. I’m not fighting for the honor of the Klingon Empire, but I’ve got my own life and dreams on the line here. I’ve been reading poetry that I’ve done over the years, especially but not exclusively since I’ve been sick. I’m reminding myself of my travels and projects that I eked out through periods of intense pain and extreme fatigue. Heroics for sure.

But what gets me about Klingons (and the Irish clans of my own heritage) is the battle songs. I don’t have any of my own. But about 3 years ago, I had a crush on someone with whom I became good friends, and I wrote him a bunch of silly songs that I left on his voicemail. He stopped by for a visit this morning. I pulled them out and sang them again. We both laughed a good belly laugh for quite a while.

This is the kind of stuff I need to pump up my warrior spirit. It helped me deal with the pain I experienced during yoga class later in the day and still walk out smiling.

My strength isn’t gone yet. But other things are slipping. It’s getting hard to type. Lots of finger errors, as though the mapping program in my brain has a few coding errors. I’m a little off balance, literally swaying a little to stay upright this evening.

I got tired today. Like bone tired. Like lead weights tied to my limbs tired. Like couldn’t wake up from my nap until someone rang my doorbell tired. Like after I woke up, all I could do was lie in bed tired. Tired.

My joint pain is getting sharper. Right now it’s the bones and joints in my hands and wrists. Earlier it was my knees. Sharp pain in my thoracic vertebrae as well. My shoulders, hips, ankles and jaw are popping a lot.

My rash was much worse during yoga (heat and sweat make it more irritated). Now I seem to have a rash developing on my back. I can’t get a good view. I’m hoping that it isn’t going to be yet another problem I have to deal with.

I can only wish. I think it will take quite a bit longer to really beat it, but I can tell I’m winning because I’ve made so much progress. Antibiotics got me part way but I could tell they wouldn’t get me to the finish line. Coiling has taken me so far past where I’d gotten before that I’m excited to keep going.